Robin Hoffmann: Anonyme Bestattungen

The composition was born from the need to write a music that leaves you alone with everything, without having to feel lonely. A music for funerals–in memory of those who have withdrawn from memory. Not music that expresses mourning, not music that creates or intensifies moods, but music that is distant from the ego, that steps back behind sensibility to leave room for the sensibilities of those present and finally gives them the opportunity to »turn their wandering listening to themselves« (Ernst Bloch).

Elementary counterpoint is used. In its regularity it cools the shattered mind in a friendly way. The starting point is formed by scales of two irregular interval sequences obtained by splitting the chromatic total and between which, after multiple shifts against each other, intersections of pitches of different sizes are created. On the basis of such a harmonic disposition, an oversized collection of two-part harmonies was elaborated, in which incessant variations, in manifold derivations, always different and yet similar, the given tonal space is traversed. Nothing repeats itself, but nothing changes either.

The time of the composition’s creation covers very precisely the period of the Corona pandemic, which has now lasted two years. At the beginning there was a cooperative project with the Music School Bietigheim-Bissingen on behalf of the New Music Network Baden-Württemberg. The idea was to offer a musical contribution by students of the music school at funerals held in the municipality of Bietigheim for those who either do not want to be named or who cannot financially afford another funeral.

Between December 2019 and February 2020, meetings, walk-throughs, appointments occurred to find a framework for the new music to be designed. Not planned for was the subsequent first lockdown, which, as in so many cases, threw the planning into disarray. The compositional intention remained, but the place and the people moved away, the area-wide standstill dug into the conception of the piece. The low ranges, but also the continuous developmentless circling around itself may have contributed considerably to the idea of creating a piece of music that cannot be grasped at all in its entirety.
Robin Hoffmann

 

Note for the concert visit
How comprehensible is a duration of 4½ hours of thoroughly arranged musical time? This question may be answered individually. The piece is long, but it does not want to force either. That is why it is possible to enter and leave the hall at any time. In such a case, it is recommended not to interrupt the concert visit, but only to return a second or third time at a later time. The length of stay should not be less than 30 minutes in order to develop a feeling for the transformations in the uniform.
R.H.